Fastener for spring covers



A r l 7 1931. u. K. POPE 3 36 FASTENER FOR SPRING COVERS Filed March 11, 1929 .FE-G. 2.

INVENTOR DANEL K. POPE j k S. %W

ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 7, 1931 UNITED STATES DANIEL K. POPE, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO FASTENER FOR SPRING COVERS i Application filed. March 11, 1929. Serial No. 345371 This 'invention relates to covers for vehicle springs and more particularly to covers of fieXible waterproof material which enclose the spring and retain a pad of felt or similar absorbent material containing a lubricant in contact with the overlapping leaves of the spring. A V

A serious difliculty heretofore encountered in the use of such spring covers has been that the fabric cover tends to become slack and baggy after it has been in service for some time due to the fact that the continual flexing of the spring causes the lubricating pad to be gradually compacted and reduced in Volume so that the cover becomes loose, losing its neatness of appearance and becoming ineffective' to prevent entry of moisture to the spring.

The present invention has for one of its main objects to provide a fastening means for the cover which will automatically take up the slack in the cover and which will maintain a substantially uniform tension on the fabric of the cover as long as the cover is in service; v t i A further object is to provide a spring take-up fastener which will not lose its tension and which will not become ,detached e from either edge of the cover, as the edges are drawn closely together by the fastening means. y A furtherobject is to provide a fastener which will permit attachment of the cover to a spring or detachment of the cover from the springwith a minimum of labor.

Affurther object is to provide a fastener 'which is inexpensive to manufacture and which may -be' quickly and easily applied to thecov n r `NVith the above and other objects in view, the invention jmay be saidto comprise the spring cover as illustrated in the accompanyt in drawings'hereinafter described and par- 3 5 ticularly set forth'in the appended claims together with such variations and modifications thereof as will be apparent to one skilled in the art to which the 'invention appertains. i '4 i Reference' should be had'tothe accompany- `fasteners connectng the edges ofthe cover.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing one of the fasteners detached.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, the vehicle spring to which the cover is attached is indicated by the reference numeral "L the fabric cover by thereference numeral 2 andthelubricating pad of felt or other with a lubricant is ndicated by the reference numeral 3. s

The fabric cover 2 has 'One edge turned .back against the inner side thereof to provide a loop4 along said edge and the turned- "back edge is secured to the'body of the cover by a seam 5. A'rod 6 extending the full 'length of the cover is Secured in the loop 4:.

The cover is made of a width such that it can be `wrapped about the spring and pad with its edges overlapping along the bottom of the spring. As shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing, theloop 4 carrying the rod 6 overlies the opposite edge of the cover which lies flat against the bottom of the spring l. A fabric loop 7 which extends the full length of the' cover is attached to the body of the cover by means of a seam 8 and extends parallel with the loop 4, the loop 7 being attached to the edge portion of the cover opposite that 1 having the loop and being spaced a sufiicient distance -from said edge to extend along the underside of the spring alongside and spaced from the loop 4. The loop 7 has Secured -therein a rod 9 whichextends the full length of the cover, the rods 6 and 9 serving to reinforce 'the edge portions of the cover and to provide means of attachment for the fastening devices which willnow be described.

The edges of the cover are detachably secured together by means of spring fastening ,suitable absorbent material impregnated e\ devices which are indcated generally by the reference numeral 10, a suitable number of these spring fasteners being provided along the length of the cover.

Referring to Figs. 4 and 5 of the drawing, each fastener is 'formed of a sin le piece ot spring wire which is bent intermediate its ends to form a coil 11, which may beprovided with a, sheet metal clip 12 to hold the turns of the coil t separation. The spring wire tastener has opposite end portions torming arms 13 and 14 projecting in the same general direction from the opposite sides ot the coil 11, the arm 14 being biased toward a position in which it extends at an angle to the arm 13.

The arm 13 of the fastener has a coil 15 whoseaxis is disposed at right angles to the axisot the coil 11 and terminates in a latrally projecting end 16. The arm 14 is bent outn 'ardly from the plane ot the coil 11 to provide an actuating shoulder 17 and. inwardly from the shoulder .17 to provide an in- .war-dly extending portion 18 which termi- ,natesin a hook 19. The fabric loop 7 is provided along the length thereof with notches 20 to receivethe coils 15of the tastener and the tasteners are assembled on the rod 9 by threading the rod `through the loop 7 and through the coils ,15 of the fasteners positioned in the notches 20. The body of the cover 2 isprovided `with apertures 1'6 'through which the projecting end 16 of the fastener maybe inserted so that the end '16 may bear directly upon the under face of the vehicle spring.

hen the fastener is assembled -on the cover, the ends 16 project from the rod 9 toward the outer edge of the cover and toward the rod 6 when the cover is in place on the spring. Thecoil 11 lies on theside of the arm `13of the tastener opposite the projectingend 16 so that when the cover is in place on the spring, the end 16 bearing against the spring tends to rock the coil 11 against theunder side ot the cover and hold the fastener in operative position.

The loop 4 is provided .with notches 22 which are so positioned along the length of the cover as *to expose portions of the rod aga 6 *for engagement by the hook 19 ot' the fas- 'tenerx The projecting end portion 16 enga'ging the spring and the loop 11 engaging the cover serve to'hold the fastener in a position parallel with the under side of the spring so that by pressing the arm 14 nwardly, the 'hook 19 may be readily engaged with or disengaged ,from the rod .6.

The outwardly projecting shoulder 17 at the outer end ot' the arm 14 provides a finger hold on :the fastener so that the arm 14 may Ibe quickly ,and ,easily pressed toward ,the rod `9 to move the portion 18 over the spacebetween the rods 6rand9 and to engage the hook 19 with or disengage the hook 19 from the rod 6.

Since the fastener is made of relatively stiti spring wire and the arm 14 is biased to swing outwardly away from the rod 9, it will be apparcnt that when the arm 14 is swung inwardly through a suflicient angle to enthe hook 19 with the rod 6, the arm 14 will be under spring tension and will maintain a constant and substantially uniform pull on the rod 6 so that the fabric of the cover will be kept taut as the absorbent pad is compacted. The cover will be made of a size such that initially, there will be a sutIicient space between the loops 4 and 7 to perm'it the necessary take-up to compensate tor shrinkage of the pad and it will be apparent that the spring 'tension will be maintained upon the cover, even though the loops 4 and 7 be drawn substantially into engagement one with the other.

In applying the cover to the spring, it is necessary simply to wrap the cover around the spring and fasten the edges together ,by pushing the arms 14 of the fasteners inwardly until the hooks 19 are brought into engagement with the rod 6, and to remove the cover, the fasteners may be disengaged by simply moving the arms 14 inwardly a suificient distance to release the hooks 19, the fastener being movable about the rod 9 as a pivot to lower the hook 19 into engagement with the rod 6 or to raise the hook 19 clear of the rod 6.

It will-be apparent-that the present invention provides a simple and nexpensive spring tastener which is permanently attached to the cover and which will eflectively take up any slack in the cover `while the cover is in service and that this fastening de- Vice enables the cover to be assembled on the spring or to be removed from the spring with a minimum of manual labor.

What I claim is:

1. The combination with a cover for vehicle springs composed of flexible material and adapted to be wrapped aboutthe spring with its opposite edges extending along the under side of the spring, of a cover tensioning fastener composed of a piece of spring wire havinga coil intermediate its ends and opposite end 'portions projecting laterally from opposite sides of the coil, one of said end portions being attachcd to one edge portion of the cover and the other of said end 'portions'being bent inwardly and terminating in a hook engageable with the opposite edge portion of the cover.

2. The combmation with a cover for vehicle springs composed of flexible material a and adapted to be Wrapped about the spring `tending longtudinally thereof along the under side of the spring, and a plurality of cover tensioning fasteners, each pivotally nonnted on one of said rods and having a resilient arni terminating in a hook engageable With the other rod, said arm being biased toward a position in which it lies to the outer side of the rod on which said fastener is monnted, and means for limiting the pvotal movement of each fastener on its rod.

3. A cover for vehicle springs composed of a piece of flexible material of a size and shape to Wrap about the spring With the edges of the cover overlapping along the under side of the spring, one edge of the cover being provided With a reinforcement extending substantially the full length thereof, the oppcsite edge portion of the cover underlying the reinforced edge and having a longitudinal reinforcement substantially parallel With the reinforced edge, and a plurality of cover tensioning fasteners each attached to one of said reinforcenients, and each having a resilient arm terminating in a hook detachably engageahle With the other reinforcement, each arm' being biased toward a position in which it lies to the outer side of the reinforcement to which it is attached.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

v DANIEL K. POPE. 

